Andy Clark, Ph.D. is currently Chief Technical Officer for Nektar Therapeutics. Prior to joining Nektar (formerly Inhale Therapeutic Systems) Dr. Clark led a pulmonary protein delivery group at Genentech, Inc.. From 1980 to 1991, he was the section head of Respiratory Physics for Fisons plc, where he led a team dedicated to developing a fundamental understanding of pharmaceutical aerosols. He holds a B.Sc. in applied physics from DeMontfort University, England, and a Ph.D. in aerosol science from Loughborough University of Technology, England. Dr. Clark was the first recipient of the International Society for Aerosols in Medicine (ISAM) young investigator award for “outstanding contributions to aerosol science” and was president of ISAM from 2001 to 2003. In 2005 he received the Thomas T Mercer award, jointly presented by ISAM and the American Association of Aerosol Research for “excellence in pharmaceutical aerosol and inhalable materials”.
Pulmonary delivery has been used for the treatment of lung diseases and for the delivery of systemically acting compounds for over a hundred years. In its simplest form, inhalation of vapors and smokes of various organic materials, it has been practiced for a lot longer than that. Since the turn of the 20th century technologies designed for the delivery of pharmaceutical compounds have been developed. In recent years these technologies have enabled reproducible delivery of fairly high doses of active pharmaceuticals. These technologies have been used to facilitate products such as Exubera (inhaled insulin) recently approved by both the US and EU regulatory authorities, and for small molecule such as morphine, fentanyl, and dihydroegrotamine which are currently in development. These technologies not only had to overcome the mechanical and biological challenges of delivering molecules to and through the lung, but also product design, manufacturing and commercialization.
